Deluxe City View

About your stay

The Grand Hotel Central offers a discreet and luxurious hideaway amid the bustle of Barcelona's fashionable El Born district. Owner Pau Guardans has completely reworked a 1920s building to create a hotel that evokes the splendor of Barcelona's high society in the early part of the 20th century. The result is a tranquil property infused with timeless elegance and urban soul. Guardans' reputation as a trendsetter and visionary is evident in the finer details of the hotel. With his very own city guide 'Barcelona Around,' Guardans offers guests an insider view of this vibrant city.

Nearest Airport

BCN – Barcelona Airport

Food & Drink

Restaurant, 2 Bars & Lounge

Spa & Recreation

Outdoor Pool, Health Club, Massage

Conference & Meetings

3 meeting rooms

Internet

Complimentary WiFi

Services

24-hour Room Service, Airport Shuttle, Bellman, Concierge, Parking

ARCHITECTURE

A Tale of Two Architects

Grand Hotel Central is the creation of two architects working 85 years apart. Back in the 1920s, the original architect of the building, Adolf Florensa, imitated the designs of the first skyscrapers in Chicago. During its renovation Oriol Tintoré painstakingly preserved the original façade and set the bedrooms around an inner patio, which meant all rooms could face outwards and have plenty of natural light. The hotel entrance and lobby—with wrought irons lamps, stone floors and bronze doors—remain as elegant as they were in the 1920s. The building’s original neoclassical stairway landings, tall ceilings and narrow windows perfectly complement the modern elements of the hotel, which are very firmly set in the 21st century.

INTERIOR DESIGN

Neoclassical Splendor Meets Urban Modernity

Twenties-style grandeur is everywhere you look, starting with the original bronze doors of the impressive structure's elegant entrance. This motif continues in the oversized rooms, which feature preserved wrought iron lamps, stone cornicing and flooring, yet smooth materials like glass and wood ooze urban modernity. Transparent panels and semi-opaque materials divide the bedrooms so that sleeping spaces, bathrooms and even the wardrobes all merge seamlessly.

In 2006, Guardans struck out on his own with Barcelona’s Grand Hotel Central, which reinterprets the grand hotels of the 1920s. Hotels, says Guardans, should function as ‘engines of local communities,’ a principle that governed his second and third properties: the Único in Madrid, which opened in 2008 and The Principal Madrid in 2015, respectively.

MADE BY ORIGINALS

Pau Guardans

There are entrepreneurs who ride trends and there are those who drive them. Pau Guardans, a Barcelona native and veteran hotelier, is decidedly of the latter kind. As co-founder and director of the successful chain AC Hotels, he helped introduce design into the Spanish hospitality sector.

MADE BY ORIGINALS

Pau Guardans

There are entrepreneurs who ride trends and there are those who drive them. Pau Guardans, a Barcelona native and veteran hotelier, is decidedly of the latter kind. As co-founder and director of the successful chain AC Hotels, he helped introduce design into the Spanish hospitality sector.

In 2006, Guardans struck out on his own with Barcelona’s Grand Hotel Central, which reinterprets the grand hotels of the 1920s. Hotels, says Guardans, should function as ‘engines of local communities,’ a principle that governed his second and third properties: the Único in Madrid, which opened in 2008 and The Principal Madrid in 2015, respectively.